An archaeologist's perspective on the lex Hieronica

The excavations at Morgantina have brought to light buildings of a sort probably required by the procedures of the lex Hieronica. The Public Office may have housed Cicero's magistratus Siculus, who maintained local archives and represented his city at the auction of the tithes in Syracuse. It is uncertain whether this official was appointed by the city, the royal financial administration, or a league of cities (κοινον, commune) subject to royal (and later Roman) authority. The tax law may have been adopted in the first phase of Hieron's rule (ca. 275-263), when Theokritos (Id. 16) described the need for the revival of agriculture.Bell Malcolm. An archaeologist's perspective on the lex Hieronica. In: La Sicile de Cicéron : lecture des Verrines. Actes du colloque de Paris (19-20 mai 2006) Organisé par l'UMR 8585, Centre Gustave Glotz. Besançon : Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l'Antiquité, 2007. pp. 187-204. (Collection « ISTA », 1030